Fresh Air Barbecue, Macon. The Rolling Stones sang, "you might not get what you want, but if you try, sometimes, you just might get what you need!" Well on Friday, August 7, 2009 I needed some "Fresh Air." I'd been wanting to do Fresh Air again for some months. Actually, I was hoping to do the Jackson (original) location, but time was pressing us to keep moving and to stop in Macon at their site on Riverside Drive. When you drive up to their joint there in the strip mall behind Longhorn Steakhouse, you are not impressed. It is a "characterless" corner of a strip mall with a little adornment letting you know it is a bbq joint. When you open the door, though, you get a good smell of what you came for. It gets better from there. Their barbecue, once voted best in Georgia, ranks right up there with anyone's. Its pulled pork with perhaps a touch of sauce. You get two choices of sauce on the tables. There is the mild which is pretty much a traditional sauce. Then, there is the hot, which will make your forehead break out in a good sweat. To fix that, though, is the fact that their drinks start with, oh yeah, crushed ice. Debbie likes that and I do too. Their barbecue sandwich is one that won't have you leaving the place hungry. It's not the largest ever had (Dreamland), but it does the job. Their stew is a pretty traditional stew. It is not too thin and not too thick. You kind of have to hunt for the meat in it, but you can taste it whether you can see it or not.

What leaves you impressed with Fresh Air in Macon is that the folks there are friendly. The barbecue leaves a very pleasant taste on your palate for hours to come. Conveniently located, if you are driving 75 south through Macon and want barbecue, you have two choices: Pig in a Pit and Fresh Air. My suggestion? Catch one going one way, and catch the other one going back. You won't be disappointed in either.